NVIDIA/PNY Quadro FX 3000: Flagship
NVIDIA's new workstation flagship is called Quadro FX 3000 and features a 256 MB video memory. Unknown to many, this model comes in two versions. The differences are limited to equipment, however, as you'll soon discover. Compared to the older FX 2000, the noticeably lower noise levels are a positive improvement.
The Quadro FX 3000 bests its seven opponents in almost all benchmark disciplines.
NVIDIA claims maximum memory bandwidth of 27.2 GB/s. Based on a memory bandwidth of 256 bits, the result is a clock speed of 425 MHz or 850 MHz DDR. Altogether, the NVIDIA has found room for 12 shader pipelines - the FX 2000/1000 has 8 - on its 130 million transistor chip. These calculate up to 100 million triangles/s and 3.2 billion texels/s.
On the resolution front, NVIDIA is out to break records. With the luxury IBM T221 and Viewsonic VP2209b models, they've managed to render an impressive 3840x2400 pixels. For those interested, this resolution bears the unpronounceable standard abbreviation of QUXGA-W.
On the left is the jack for stereo glasses. Analog monitors, using the adapter supplied, or digital flatscreens can be connected through the two DVI-I ports. Even a mixed configuration is possible. The TDMS chip is a cut above. It can already handle dual-link mode - i.e. two channels at once.
Since power needs can no longer be supplied via the AGP bus, the NVIDIA device needs an extra power connector.
